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The king is dead…

The passing of the mantle
Pic by Paolo

The Captain’s Dinner was a glorious affair (who would have expected anything else with Jamie Weir organising the bash), held at the Bread Street Kitchen in Southwark.

Jamie gave a wonderful speech, detailing the famous jacket he was wearing, his team’s great victory against the French, and proceeded to run a heads & tails golf knowledge test, dropping the odd name along the way.

After this tour de force, Jamie removed his chain of office and placed it on the slim and safe shoulders of Nev Appleton to crown him the new Captain of the Press Golf Society.

An excellent turn out showed the popularity of our out-going skipper and Nev was the first to admit that Jamie will be a hard act to follow.

The evening was a huge success and the great majority of the season’s winners turned up to collect their prizes. Thanks goes to Paolo for giving up much of his evening to record the successes of so many.

And our prize winners were:

 

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The PGS raise £4K for charity & Paolo just avoids the cut!

Auctioneer Ian McIlgorm jollies cash for The Journalists Charity - pic by Patrick Eager

Auctioneer Ian McIlgorm jollies cash from PGS members in aid of The Journalists Charity – photograph by Patrick Eagar

It was cold outside but the generosity of the PGS members and their guests was as warm as ever as they dug deep to raise a whopping £4,085 for The Journalists Charity at our annual Christmas Scramble.

The money was charmed from their wallets by the silver-tongued Ian McIlgorm, who found generous homes for all manner of golfing goodies, all donated by those same members and guests.

The auction followed the Scramble, held for the second year at Worplesdon, where the team of Andy Porter, Adam Piggott, Tony Smith and Colin Hancock recorded a remarkable round of just 59 shots. They beat the second place team of James Bartholomew, Ben Monro-Davis and guests Peter Dean and Charles Pender by one shot.

In third place were Hugh Whittow, Jon Jones, Nick Cherrie and James Nursey, who, according to Paolo’s calculator, were just 0.5 of a shot behind.

Paolo himself was lucky to just miss the cut, by an automated grass cutter, according to this photograph by Nick Toksvig:

Worplesdon Golf Club did the PGS proud with the course in fine condition and the meal as good as we’ve come to expect from the club.

Pics by Nick and Patrick.

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West Hill’s Band of Brothers

‘The finest 18th hole on any course we play,’ Captain Jamie.                  Pic by Evan Samuel, Words by John Quinn

Played just two days after St Crispin’s Day, the best description of our PGS’ gathering on a glorious autumnal day at West Hill should be left to the Baird:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

The sun shone, the shadows were long and West Hill again served up the perfect October golf course and conditions.

It was the Dave Reading, playing off of 7, who claimed first place in Div 1 with 35 points, and the Peggy White Vase.

Sun sport production editor Dave was the only player to get close to his handicap on a course where the heather troubled the unwary and the tricky greens held sway.

Dave said: ‘I’ve just returned from the Caribbean and played at the very start of the hurricane, which put me in good stead when the breeze picked up in the afternoon at West Hill. I’ve been a member for two years and this was my first win!

‘I played well last year at West Hill and was still carrying a penalty from that game, so I’m doubly delighted to have won. The course was in perfect autumn condition and the greens ran true. Luckily, I sunk  my fair share of puts, not one three putt all day!’

Nev Appleton came second in Div 1 on count back with 33 points, ahead of Mark Lomas who flew in from Portugal to play in the match.

The course favoured the lower handicappers and Div 2 (15 and above) saw Ian Woods beat playing partner Caroline Day on count back with 31 points. Third was Colin Hancock, just a shot behind.

 

Pics by Paolo Minoli, Evan Samuel, Nev Appleton, Nic Toksvig, Tony Smith, Jonny Bramley & John Quinn

 

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Jamie’s Dorn winners!

ROYAL COMMAND – Captain Jamie Weir surrounded by his team celebrate their Wryter Cup triumph at Royal Dornoch

Inspirational skipper Jamie Weir led his beautifully-dressed PGS team to glorious Wryter Cup victory at the majestic Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

The 16 PGS heroes saw off their APG counterparts 19-13, winning all three sessions to reclaim the Cup in terrific style.

Jamie, who produced a motivational video featuring Hollywood superstar Jamie Dornan and several Ryder Cup legends, said: “It was all I’d dreamed of. I’m so proud of my team and of the way we fought together to win the Cup. It will live very long in my memory – a truly sensational few days.”

The PGS claimed the Monday morning foursomes 5-3 and the fourballs 5.5-3.5 to lead 10.5-6.5 overnight, before sealing victory with an 8.5-7.5 win in the singles.

Ben Todd claimed the coveted Vic Woodman Trophy, awarded to the PGS member who best exemplifies the spirit of the Wryter Cup.

The tournament was played in the aftermath of Storm Amy, which forced the Dornoch starter’s hut to be boarded up for safety. Had we been playing a day earlier, we wouldn’t have got on the course, so powerful was the storm.

But we ended up playing in typical Scottish weather, with several seasons an hour and even some shirt-sleeved golf.

The club were magnificent hosts, although we were just a little too early to see the opening of their much-vaunted new clubhouse. Still, at least that gives an excuse to go back in the future!

PGS 19, APG 13

FOURSOMES: PGS 5, APG 3

Jonny Bramley and Nev Appleton v Guillaume Baraise and Francois Scimeca. PGS WIN 2 UP

Dylan Dronfield and Jamie Weir v Nicolas Doucet and Damien Houles. PGS WIN 2 UP

Tim Allan and Philip Edgar-Jones v Romain Schneider and Laurent Louet. APG WIN 4&3

Andy Porter and Tony Smith v Philippe Millereau and Jean Francois Dessaint. APG WIN 2&1

Mike Waker and Hugo Chambre v Stephane Ruet and Edouard Combette. APG WIN 5&3

Andy Glen and Steve Lewis v Guillaume Michel and Christophe Lassaut. PGS WIN 1 UP

Khalid Javed and Ollie McCormack v Remi Gouriou and Didier Largillier. PGS WIN 5&4

Colin Hancock and Ben Todd v Arnold Cara and Francois Lanaud. PGS WIN 4&2

FOURBALLS: PGS 5½, APG 2½

Jamie Weir and Jonny Bramley v Damien Houles and Francois Scimeca. HALVED

Nev Appleton and Dylan Dronfield v Romain Schneider and Guillaume Baraise. PGS WIN 3&1

Tony Smith and Tim Allan v Nicolas Doucet and Philippe Millereau. APG WIN 3&2.

Andy Porter and Mike Waker v Stephane Ruet and Lauren Louet. APG WIN 5&4

Steve Lewis and Ollie McCormack v Jean Francois Dessaint and Christophe Lassaut. PGS WIN 4&3

Khalid Javed and Phil Edgar-Jones v Didier Largillier and Edouard Combette. PGS WIN 6&5

Andy Glen and Colin Hancock v Francois Lanaud and Remi Gouriou. PGS WIN 5&4

Ben Todd and Hugo Chambre v Guillaume Michel and Arnold Cara. PGS WIN 1 UP.

SINGLES: PGS 8½, APG 7½

Ollie McCormack v Philippe Millereau. PGS WIN 4&3

Steve Lewis v Guillaume Michel. APG WIN 2&1

Jonny Bramley v Christophe Lassaut. APG WIN 4&3

Hugo Chambre v Nicolas Doucet. PGS WIN 5&3

Nev Appleton v Francois Scimeca. PGS WIN 1 UP

Andy Glen v Edouard Combette. APG WIN 2 UP

Dylan Dronfield v Stephane Ruet 5 APG. HALVED

Jamie Weir v Guillaume Baraise. PGS WIN 3&2

Khalid Javed v Romain Schneider. PGS WIN 4&3

Tony Smith v Francois Lanaud. APG WIN 2&1

Mike Waker v Didier Largillier. PGS WIN 2 UP

Phil Edgar-Jones v Remi Gouriou. APG WIN 3&2

Ben Todd v Damien Houles. APG WIN 2 UP

Colin Hancock v Francois Dessaint. PGS WIN 6&5

Tim Allan v Laurent Louet. PGS WIN 2&1

Andy Porter v Arnold Cara. APG WIN 3&2

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Forces for courses – PGS expeditionary team carry out Dutch recce

Photo credit: Roland J Reinders
Words by Nick Buckley
Next year the Press Golfing Society hosts the annual meeting of the European Masters for Golf-playing Journalists (EMGJ) for the first time.
So, with one eye firmly on sharing and learning, a PGS expeditionary force tackled this year’s EMGJ event, the Redexim Nations Cup on Texel island in The Netherlands.
Once the team had landed – via planes, trains, automobiles, ferries and hoppers – the pairings of Nick Buckley (Captain)/ Ben Griffiths, Evan Samuel/ Andi White, Pip Clothier/ Neil White, Jane Malone/ Keith Malone, and Neale Adams/ Phil Harris had a splendid three days.
A practice round on the Tuesday gave the team a first look at the magnificent De Texelse links, rich in dunes, birdlife, lakes and impenetrable flora. The two-day competition which followed consisted of a two-ball scramble on the Wednesday and a better ball on the Thursday.
As is the annual tradition in this event, the PGS performance was better off the course than on it where the team fell just short of their target of a top five finish. All the pairings performed commendably with the Adams/ Harris partnership the stand-out success, bringing in top scores for the PGS on both days.
The event was won by the Austrians, with Denmark second and hosts The Netherlands coming in an impressive third. The PGS would like to send a huge thank you to organisers Cara de Vlaming and Hélène Wiesenhaan for all their support towards next year’s event which will be held at East Sussex National on 11-16 October.
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